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Bill would let Maryland Department of Agriculture request soil‑and‑water plans during nutrient‑management compliance reviews
Summary
House Bill 140 would grant the Maryland Department of Agriculture authority, on par with MDE, to request soil conservation district soil‑and‑water conservation plans when conducting nutrient‑management compliance investigations; sponsors say access helps build enforcement cases but districts raised confidentiality concerns.
Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) officials told the House Environment and Transportation Committee that House Bill 140 would give MDA parity with the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) to request soil and water conservation plans from local soil conservation districts when MDA is conducting nutrient‑management compliance investigations.
Assistant Secretary for Resource Conservation Hans Schmidt said the authority would be limited to nutrient‑management compliance investigations and would not make conservation plans public. “When we run into these situations where we're not getting any progress … the purpose of this bill is so that we can request, just as MDE does, for nutrient management compliance issues, to have a view of that conservation plan so that we can see what progress is making,” Schmidt said.
Sponsor testimony and several committee members pressed for clarity about whether the bill would defeat trust between farmers and local districts. Delegate Dahlia Jacobs and others described that soil and water conservation plans are often viewed by farmers as confidential, business‑sensitive documents. MDA witnesses and the sponsor said the request authority would be used only in cases where MDA is pursuing enforcement or when a farmer is not cooperating. "We have a process where we'll come back in 30 or 60 or 90 days to just do some follow‑up," Schmidt said, but added the bill is aimed at “bad actors, the ones where we're not getting any progress.”
Several soil conservation district representatives and advocates said they had concerns about notice and consultation. Committee members noted that some district managers said they first learned about the bill late in the process and urged further engagement. MDA officials said they had met with some district managers earlier and would continue outreach.
Supporters including Worcester County and some agricultural interests said enabling MDA to obtain plans for enforcement would improve compliance and speed remediation in a small number of longstanding cases. MDA said it has two enforcement cases that have lasted several years and that access to conservation plans could shorten enforcement timelines.
No formal committee vote was recorded during the hearing; MDA and the sponsor requested a favorable report with commitments to continued engagement with districts.
